A View From Within

November 3, 1985

I WOULD like to submit a view from within about Barbara Stewart's article about ''Fundamentalists Anonymous'' in the Insight section.

The treatment described to force conversion on a teen-age girl is not fundamental Christianity because true faith is a gift of God, and no matter how much the parents long for conversion, it is sinful to request that God torment anyone.

The term ''fundamentalist'' is treated by some in the news media as describing people on a par with those who carry signs saying, ''The world will end tomorrow.'' Nothing could be further from the truth.

''Fundamentalists'' are Christians who follow the reformed faith of men such as Luther, Calvin and Wyckliffe, who taught that the Bible is the holy, inerrant word of God.

Fundamentalism isn't religious repression. Fundamental means primary or basic. To understand a subject, science or even a game, one must learn and retain fundamentals.